In anatomy, a fingerprint is a trace, print, or scan of the friction ridges of the skin of any finger that serve as unique identification markers. [1] The three generalized types of fingerprints are arches, loops, and whorls. The scientific study of fingerprints or "skin patterns" and there relation to personality types, e.g. extrovert (energy outgoing) or introvert (energy ingoing), or genetic disease, such as Down syndrome, is called dermatoglyphics. [1] In 2007, it was suggested by Russian biometrist Viktor Minkin that the human thermodynamics of fingerprint pattern analysis may explain these patterns. [2]

Embryogenesis

In humans, dermatoglyphs (patterns) are present on fingers, palms, toes, and soles, and can give insight into a critical period of embryogenesis, between 4 weeks and 5 months, when the architecture of the major organ systems is developing. Unusual dermatoglyphic patterns often relate to genetic disorders, such as Down syndrome, Turner syndrome, or Klinefelter's syndrome among others. [11]

Hypothesis

In 2007, it was hypothesized by Russian biometrist Viktor Minkin that there exists a "direct link between fingerprints, which reflect the character and health of the person, and DNA" that can be explained via the thermodynamics of human development. [2]

Fingerprints, according to Minkin, are natural visible markers of the results of the thermodynamics process driving the early stages of human embryo forming. It is well known, for instance, that fingerprints have correlation with human character. [3]

Likewise, modern science has accumulated many results in genetic studies of heredity and their relation to fingerprints. The heredity mechanism, however, includes both discrete processes, i.e. genetics, and analogue processes, namely biological or system influence. It is known, for example, that identical twins have identical genetic code, but differ in fingerprints.

History of dermatoglyphics

Fingerprints and dermatoglyphics have ancient classification history, dating back to the work of Scottish scientist Henry Faulds who classified different fingerprints by three main types arch, loop and whorl. [4] Fingerprint identity characterized by minutiae, which totally could be only two types as bifurcations or ridges endings.

Morphology

Fingerprints form by the friction ridges of the skin, which includes several lays: epidermis, dermis and hypodermis. Ridges are anatomically located over blood vessels and nerve fibers, and the development of real skin crossing is complicated process. [5]

Unexplained puzzle

Epidermis or friction ridges cover only limited part of skin on fingertips, palms, foots and there is no generally accepted theory explaining it. Fingerprints exist on human beings and a few primates. It was supposed, originally, that fingerprints appeared during evolution process for friction force increased during trees climbing [6].

One unexplained puzzle is that of the correlation between genetics and fingerprints. There is a lot of science research confirming the statistical correlation between fingerprints and genetic characteristics of person, but there is no one accepted conception? [3]

To answer this, Minkin's theory is that the human embryogenesis genetic program is realized in correlation with the laws of thermodynamics and that embryo formation aims towards a entropy minimum during its developments with minimal energy spending. [7] This correlates to the biochemical rule that internal molecular entities, such as drugs moving towards receptors, move along paths of minimum free energy. Subsequently, the development of an embro may also form or assemble along a path of minimum system free energy.

Free enegy minimization paths

According to Danish quantum chemist John Avery, protein conformational changes, enzyme-substrate dynamics, antigen-antibody interactions, and sub-cellular organelle autoassembly processes all take place along paths that minimize the Gibbs free energy of the system. Likewise, according to Russian physical chemist Georgi Gladyshev, the ontogenetic and phylogenetic development at any stage in the development of an organism, as well as the evolution of social systems of organisms, takes place along paths that tend to minimize the Gibbs free energy of the system. [12]

In evolving protein systems, such as in autoassembly, protein folding, and other known scientific processes, complementary charges are drawn towards each other, not along paths that minimize the energy of the system, but along paths that minimize Gibbs free energy. Likewise, humans, in evolving molecular systems, are drawn along paths that minimize the Gibbs free energy. In the protein system, the entropy term plays the essential role between two opposite charges, the water molecules are aligned, and their entropy is lower than it would be if they could move around freely. As the opposite charges approach each other, the volume of the structured water between them is reduced, and the entropy of the system increases. [12]

This principle is common for every personal physiological system formation developed and realized by the one way in the determined embryogenesis period (10-13 weeks); subsequently, the structure of fingerprint ridges may have correlation with brain and nerve system structure [1].

Hence, every minutiae on the fingerprints may reflect some element of a thermodynamics process during embryogenesis and possibly influence on brain formation as well. This conception explains why fingerprint image type is genetic parameter (identical twins have identical fingerprint types) though minutiae and ridges characteristics are not genetic parameter (identical twins have different minutiae). The brain and nerves system structure has influence to the person behavior and at the same time every fingerprint parameter has correlation with the person character. [18]

Fingerprint as energy marker

In the early part of the 20th century, Carl Jung, one of the founders of psychodynamics, suggested that the extraversion/introversion trait is a central quality of the human personality. This characteristic is based on the direction of the flow psychological energy for extraversion (outside energy direction) and introversion (inside energy direction) [9]. Visual fingerprint, coincedently, analysis gives the same results, the arch ridges have more open ridges direction and whorls have more closed ridges directions. Dermatoglyphic statistics confirms this and refers to people with arch to extraversion, people with whorls to introversion, and people with loops to intermediate type [10]. Application of energy and entropy analysis principals of fingerprint image may allow one to raise the reliability of personal heredity forecast.